Kelley Blue Book, a company known for its price lists on new and used cars, says scammers have created a fake website to steal money from unsuspecting car buyers.

"It looks just like the Kelley Blue Book website," said Robyn Eagles, a spokeswoman for the company. "They're offering a buyer protection program, which we don't offer."

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Eagles said a customer in Pennsylvania alerted Kelley Blue Book to the fake website after communicating with a car seller on eBay Motors. The seller urged the customer to pay for the vehicle she agreed to buy through an escrow site that "looked just like Kelley Blue Book's site."

But Eagles said the customer noticed several irregularities.

"The ads on the page didn't work. The fonts were different. They also found that there was a live chat feature, which we don't offer," Eagles said.

According to Eagles, Kelley Blue Book has received a small but increasing number of inquiries over the last few months regarding the fraudulent buyer protection program. In a news release, the company explained in detail how the escrow scam works:

Typically, a seller will list a car that they do not own on a reputable vehicle listings website. Emails from the seller often provide a story about a quick divorce or military deployment that requires fast liquidation of the vehicle at a low price and the inability to execute the sale in person.

The next phase of the scam includes the seller moving the transaction to a fraudulent website other than where the car was listed, making it easier to conduct a crime. The alternate site may include guarantees that are said to be backed by reputable companies, promises for the return of funds should a vehicle not be delivered, and may look similar to Kelley Blue Books kbb.com website by using logos and similar fonts and colors. The majority of these sites are often poorly written with multiple spelling errors.

The seller then instructs the potential buyer to wire a partial or full payment to a third-party, such as Kelley Blue Book and fax the seller proof of payment. By the time the buyer realizes what has happened, the money and the seller are long gone.

Eagles said the fake Kelley Blue Book website has been reported to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center.